REUNION 2008 - BEHIND THE SCENES
When the
Wilson ’63 Reunion Committee held the first of 11 reunion planning meetings on May 26, 2007, one resolution passed unanimously
- “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” On that day, we decided to
repeat all five events from the 40 -year reunion in 2003. And so we rolled up our sleeves and went to work.
Take a peek at just a sample of the actual notes from the various meetings
over the 16 month period … and get some idea just how it’s done!
First, a big welcome
to our new Committee Members: John Mauger, Mary-Ann Solsvik Nied, Barbara Billings Schwartz, and (not pictured)
Robin Kennedy Sprang.
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Alix: The date
has been set – September 19-21. Old Ranch Country Club can do it. Joe Jost’s – Alix will host. Also, she will negotiate a discounted lodging rate with Ayres
Hotel.
Nick discussed opportunities
to explore and promote the “Legacy of Wilson ‘63” thru various projects to mentor, sponsor, etc. the Bruins
of today. …. Lots of great ideas to kick around when next we meet .
Lynne reports on Old Ranch. She
has finalized plans for table linens, table decs (wine bottles with little bears, Barbara Fernandez will get the little bears.)
John and Nick continue to
iron out details for Legacy ‘63. On
Monday, John and our Treasurer, Barbara Loureiro will meet at Wilson with Steve and others, to discuss the scholarship process.
Bill: Will
work on Save the Date mailer to go to the 339 classmates who did not confirm receipt of the initial “Save the Date”
email.
Robin, Gingi and Bill are checking on the availability of several photographers
Thanks again to Gingi for once
more opening her home to our meetings.
Gary will work with Donna on setting up the
Jr. High Memorabilia Displays using yearbook photos from Jefferson and Rogers.
Donna: Also checking out a possible
DJ – will go and listen to him work.
Mr. Wille is just a Liaison and doesn't say much
at the meetings :-)
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Margie: Website is going strong (over 3000 hits on the site, this month alone, just since May 1) and
will be heavily used to promote the 45th reunion. Pictures will be taken of the committee “at work”
which will be posted as we go along. RSVPs will be posted daily.
Carol will do new
CD’s for the event. We will ask for suggestions on the website and on our Save the Date and RSVP mailers.
Bob has agreed to again be our MC, and threw out a few suggestions for entertainment including mandatory steroid testing. J He further reports some nice touches in store for the golf tournament,
including a square hole?
Jeri: Database
is in good shape but we can expect many returns from the snail mailing. A lot of data has not been confirmed for 5 years.
Missing list stands at 115. For now! –(Update: 74)
Lee will provide all the balloons
and flowers, and also chairs for the picnic (many thanks, Lee!)
Dennie: LosAl Racetrack Friday night; all set for the Vista Terrace area which can accommodate 60-70
people. Deposit paid. We still have to come up with a name for the race dedicated to our class.
Barbara Fernandez discussed
more of the details on the picnic. Gary, Robin and David, Nick, Donna and Jerry,all will help with set up and tear-down. Steve is arranging the pepsters' performance and school tour.
Mary-Ann has agreed to take responsbility for the
Raffle, and will provide the tickets, the bags, etc. Barbara Schwartz already has some raffle items,and her son-in-law
has made a generous donation to the Legacy of '63 - our first!
Barbara Loureiro has agreed
to provide an In Memoriam display board and will work with Mary-Ann on setting up the Raffle table.
All committee members
will make every effort to meet and greet guests, and be on the lookout to give those attending for the first time an extra
warm welcome. Everything is ready. We are good to go!
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COUNTDOWN
Our 9th meeting, in July of 2008, was a potluck/barbecue (Committee Members do have to eat, after all.)
At that time, we synchronized our watches.
RECIPE FOR A VERY SUCCESSFUL REUNION .
Take 20 very dedicated, talented committee
members Hold 11 extremely productive meetings Spend countless hours planning/preparing Mix together...and stew for 16 months .
Yield: 5 Events over a Three-day Period Serves: Many, many happy and appreciative classmates
BEHIND THE SCENES
WITH LINDA - JERI SAYS: When Linda agreed to carry on for Margie,
she brought with her some very artistic gifts. As one who teaches scrapbooking (as a Creative Memories Consultant),
she has a perfect feel for graphics, picture placement, captions, and all the other ways of recording and cherishing memories.
Her exquisite taste and discerning eye far surpass mine (my screening of photos is basic: (Eyes
open? / Flies closed?)
So, for weeks, we have worked together
over the phone – selecting, discussing, arranging, rearranging, goofing off. Choosing, worrying,
laughing. Checking it once and checking it twice. And we hope you will be happy with
the finished work.
Only someone who has raised twins and
thrown herself out of an airplane would be up to such a daunting task. (Was it like free-fall at first? )
Hats off to Linda!
NOTE
TO MY PARTNER: Now, take a break and reclaim your life ( Bruce, you
remember Linda, right? )
A Night at the Races 2008
Wilson Reunion 2008
Music: "Hopelessly Devoted"
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For
Best Performance in a Supporting Role ...A special thanks to the "Honey-Do" gang who good-naturedly shared their
spouses' time and TLC... as well as doing a bit of heavy lifting themselves. Shown here are two of them, Manuel Loureiro
and Rick Traver. Taking a break, of course.
BEHIND THE SCENES WITH JERI - LINDA SAYS:
At
Margie’s request and armed with her lessons on website-design, I joined up with Jeri and found out what a capable, dedicated
Bruin she is. She knows the members of the Class of ’63 like the back of her hand. If I mention some names, she can
tell me where they live, whether or not they visit the website, and offer to call or e-mail them for even more information.
For the last five or six weeks, we have eaten, slept, and breathed Wilson63.com.
We have called, e-mailed, and brainstormed several times a day--making decisions about pictures and pages and then changing
our minds--and developing a wonderful friendship along the way. Jeri has even
gone through the paperwork from the reunion, making sure that everyone has at least one picture on these pages. She has requested
pictures from people that she couldn’t find, so almost everyone is represented. And then she checks it all over
again. Her enthusiasm has never lagged, and her dedication is something to behold. She is always thinking of ways to make
the website more enjoyable for all of the Bruins of ‘63. What a treasure!
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